Declassified UK November 2023

Posted: 1st December 2023

November 2023

Hi everyone – It’s frankly been the most terrible month of events concerning UK policies that we at Declassified have ever reported on. As I write, the death toll of Palestinians at the hands of Israel stands at around 14,500.

As you will know, Israel’s bombing of Gaza has been cheered on by most British MPs, and actively backed by the UK government. Most people I know share the feeling I have, of anger, at how the UK political establishment is so complicit in clear war crimes, and so utterly unrepresentative of the British public.  

It’s vital that people take to the streets on demonstrations and other actions because the UK establishment is complicit in these crimes, and that includes the media. Where have the UK media been in reporting how the UK government is backing Israel’s war on Gaza? Pretty much nowhere. 

None of Declassified’s key revelations this month have reported in the mainstream – completely as we would expect.

We discovered the UK military has undertaken over 30 transport flights to Israel from its vast air base on Cyprus, including every day for two weeks after the Gaza bombing began.

What are those planes carrying? We asked the Ministry of Defence, and it refused to provide details of the cargo or personnel on flights. It denied sending “lethal aid” and said the planes supported Britain’s “diplomatic engagement” in Israel. Hmmn.

Then we showed the US is moving arms to Israel from around Europe using Britain’s Cyprus air base. That base has become an international military hub supporting Israel’s bombing campaign in Gaza. Half of US planes flying from British Cyprus were reported by Israeli newspaper Haaretz as carrying weapons for Israel

Again, the Ministry of Defence refused to tell Declassified which American aircraft are flying or what weapons are on board.

Neither did either of these two revelations trouble editors in the UK mainstream media. We’ve taken a close look at the British media this month – on how it is reporting the horrific war in Gaza.

Serving power, not the public

The Gaza war demonstrates yet again how the UK media serve power not the public. Claire Lauterbach and Namir Shabibi BBC – over a three week period.

Professor Des Freedman looked at the BBC, showing how its coverage of Palestine is regularly marked by an absence of history and context and a tendency to reproduce official Israeli government and military sources.

And Hamza Ali Shah, a British/Palestinian journalist, also analysed British mainstream media coverage of Gaza. He concludes they operate a hierarchy of human life, where Palestinian lives are not worth as much as Israelis. They misinform the public and delegitimise the Palestinian struggle – and are complicit in Israel’s war crimes.

No ceasefire

We were honoured this month to publish a very moving motiondemanding a ceasefire, as our head of communications, Vicki Thomas, reported.

One of our regular contributors, John McEvoy, showed that as the Labour party refused to back a ceasefire in Gaza, two-fiths of Keir Starmer’s shadow cabinet has been funded by pro-Israel lobbyists. 

War crimes

In fact, this month, Declassified took the unusual step of calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate UK complicity in war crimes in Gaza. Matt Kennard and I outlined that the UK military and intelligence services may be aiding Israel’s attack on Gaza in at least seven ways. I then wrote to the ICC submitting our article and saying the ICC must investigate.

Will it? This is something we’re closely monitoring.

I also looked at why the UK political elite backs Israel so strongly – a question many people are asking. I think there are two key reasons – the need for Whitehall to demonstrate British subservience and usefulness to the US, and the power of the Israel lobby. Our national media can’t have a sensible discussion on either of these.

I also wrote about the UK’s responsibility for helping to resolve the current war in Gaza which stems partly from its imperial past – when in 1948 Britain contributed to Israeli forces’ takeover of most of Palestine. It’s to the shame of our media that such context – essential background – is almost never explained.

Companies benefiting

John McEvoy also revealed that giant UK corporations that are backed by the government – BP and BAE Systems – are capitalising on lucrative contracts with Israel. While Israel’s military has killed thousands of Palestinians in Gaza, its government has announced the award to BP of a lucrative contract to explore for natural gas in the eastern Mediterranean.

Meanwhile, BAE Systems, the UK’s largest arms export which manufactures key parts of the F-35 jets being used to support strikes on Gaza, has seen its share price rise in recent weeks. We also documentedsome of the other companies arming Israel, and the campaign resisting it.

John also showed that Israel is targeting the UK public with war propaganda. The Israeli government is paying social media companies to promote videos designed to cultivate support for its war on Gaza.

Veteran journalist Peter Oborne reported for us from Hebron in the southern part of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where illegal settlers, backed by Israel’s military, are forcing Palestinians off their land with impunity. He wrote: “They assault women and the elderly. They enter Palestinian houses ripping out fixtures and fittings, stealing money, destroying papers, overturning furniture. They shoot to kill. Many wear military uniform. They have imposed a reign of terror. They are supported by Israel’s army.”

Our chief reporter Phil Miller observed that hundreds of Britons have joined the Israel Defence Force, which is illegally occupying Palestinian land and now promoting vast war crimes in Gaza. But lawyers are asking: Is their recruitment lawful? Phil also interviewed a retired senior British soldier who worked for Britain’s Ministry of Defence across the Middle East, who is concerned by mounting civilian casualties. He told us Israel’s attack on Gaza is “indiscriminate”.

Israel’s actions are being carried out in plain sight, in real-time. That’s what makes this war shocking for most of us who are fortunate enough not to be directly enduring it. Jonathan Cook &c=eYBQFgulV8sYxK3jaVHoKgW78IW0bq31ecrk6qStjnl_TJ9j67ZLcA==&ch=gZR2ZFaHJ_jPKA5ctnUXOktDJfCpCyNY6854I3R1hI8LqozXb4dYdA==”>I will set up a regular donation 

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